Barcelona Still Lovely the Second Time Around

Three of my fellow exchange students at Rotterdam, Angela, Carolina, and Sandra, and I spent a week in Spain. The trip began with a train ride to Brussels, where we had a pleasant if not expensive lunch. As it was Angela’s first time in Brussels, she had a great time looking around while getting three sets of advice on what’s cool in Brussels from her three travelphile classmates. After lunch we rushed onto a bus to the airport, having lost track of time. Meanwhile I was worried about my ticket, as the airline had not emailed me back the confirmation via email as promised, and my inquiries into the reservation had been unanswered. Luckily we all made it to the airport just in time, and my reservation had been valid after all.

Getting to the apartment from the Barcelona airport had been a cinch, but getting in the apartment was another matter. Carolina had arranged to rent an apartment, but the apartment manager was not there when we arrived. Carolina called her, and in the typical European fashion, the manager said she’d arrive in an hour. We had some drinks at the café next door and chatted with the waiter, who, like Carolina, was from the Dominican Republic. In fact, there are many people from Latin America working in Spain.

I did not manage to get a hold of the other exchange students from Berkley who are studying at the IESE Business School in Spain. Instead, the first night the four of us from Rotterdam made our way to La Rambla, the famous pedestrian street that traps tourist like fly paper. Actually it was quite fun. An Asian guy dressed up as a gorilla made Carolina scream and he jumped up from behind her. Another guy dressed up like a statue sitting on a toilet on a pedestal. Hungry as I was, I rushed everyone to a café in a side plaza. Hosts from every easting establishment cordially invited people in, but the hospitality usually ended there. The place we chose was packed. After a long while of waiting for the server to even come to our table, all four of us gestured for the waiter. When he finally came, he screamed at us, asking why we could not see he was busy with all the other tourists. When Carolina and Sandra tried to respond to him in Spanish, he said that if we could not wait, we should go eat at McDonalds. Then he had the audacity to ask what we wanted to order. We simply go up and left, steaming from the experience. The manager was no help. We went to a different café where the paella was not so great. It was not the best start for the trip.

The next day we went to see Gaudi’s famous buildings, starting with La Sagrada Familia cathedral. While I had been to the cathedral before, I did not go up the towers before on account of the long lines. The next stop was La Pedrera, his famous apartment building turned museum, on the roof of which I basked in the sun amongst his magical sculptural creations while listening to Billy Holiday on my MP3 player. It was one of those moments when you ask yourself, can life be any better than this?

For lunch we went to have tapas, the Spanish equivalent of dim sum. And just like dimsum, I walk away hungry. Apparently Carolina did as well. While Sandra and Angela went ahead to Casa Batllo across the street, Carolina and I snuck away to McDonalds. Luckily she remembered somehow that she left her camera in the tapas restaurant, and lucky again it was still there.

After Casa Batllo, Carolina went off to the Gothic Quarter while the three of us went to Parc Guell, yet another Gaudi creation. A man on the subway recognized Sandra’s Portuguese guidebook and gave her a tip to take a different subway stop that is closer to the park than the usual one. Even then the climb to the park was exhaustive, though well worth the trip. The view from the top was beautiful, as was the remainder of the park.

We agreed to meet Carolina at the magic fountain at Montjuic. Every half hour, Montjuic featured a dancing water fountain show that is coordinated with music and lights. Sandra and I were mesmerized, but Angela was less impressed. Carolina showed up half hour late, though Sandra and I made them stayed until the end of the last show at 9:00pm. After that we walked around the neighborhood looking for a decent restaurant. A shopkeeper recommended us to one, which turned out to be across the street from our apartment. Unfortunately the food was not quite so good, though there was a fight outside the restaurant that made it interesting.

The next day Angela, Sandra, and I went to the Montserrat Monastery, which is built unto the side of a cliff. We took a cable car to the monastery, and then had some breakfast. The monastery is famous for the black virgin, for was like a mecca for the Catholics in Spain. A continuous procession of visitors lined up to touch the black virgin icon at the top of the altar. There was even a wedding taking place while the tourists and pilgrims flooded the cathedral. We didn’t line up. Instead I lit a candle and made some wishes.

After that we took yet another train to higher up the mountain, the peak of which looked like lady’s fingers (the pastry that makes up tiramisu) with ants on it. The ants are really human rock climbers. Angela is an aspiring rock climber, and she demonstrated her agility by climbing up a small hill. When I started to call her a monkey, she tried to throw a rock at me. Instead she missed and hit a passer-by. She got embarrassed and we soon left.

After Montserrat, we went to Montjuic, a hilly area inside Barcelona where the Olympics are held. Our first stop was the military fort, which offered a fantastic view of Barcelona’s port, as well as cruise ships stuck in port due to labor strikes (maybe that explains the large number of tourists in town). While I was taking pictures of Sandra, a little German girl threw a rock that hit my shoulder. She looked surprised, and her mother scolded her. She started crying but would not apologize to me despite her mother’s insistence. I think she did not mean to hit me, and I told her mother in my broken German that it was okay. She thanked me. It’s funny that I was like a rock magnet that day. That o I was being treated like a pariah, just like my namesake St. Steven.

While Sandra and Angela spent time in the Royal Palace, I went around looking at the Olympic Park. Angela was to leave early with me to go back to our rented apartment, where she would meet with Carolina for dinner and I would go back out to meet Sandra for the magic fountain. But Angela came back out half an hour late, and by the time I got back to the fountain, I had missed the first show, featuring music from Gone with the Wind and Star Wars, two of my all-time favorite movies. Nonetheless I enjoyed the next two shows. I think I can watch the magic fountain shows every night.

Sandra was talking with a couple, who recommended a place for dinner. We went there to dinner and found a long line, a sure sign that the place was good. And it was. It was cheaper than most places and higher quality in terms of ambience and food. It was mostly locals dressed in suits and high couples looking more fashionable. Needless to say, it was Sandra’s and my finest dining experience in Spain.

The remainder of the night I spent working on homework. The next day we headed out to Madrid. Though it was my second time in Barcelona, the city held surprises for me. Nonetheless, I preferred Madrid, particularly as it was cool already (otherwise we would have gone to the beach at Barcelona). Barcelona is like Rio de Janeiro or Los Angeles, whereas Madrid is like Sao Paolo or New York. Though an Angeleno at heart, somehow I am more drawn to the more cosmopolitan and proud Madrid.

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